Sanju Samson's return and Sai Sudharsan's debut: India unveils XI for 1st ODI against South Africa

In the eagerly awaited clash against South Africa in the first ODI, India's playing XI sees the return of Sanju Samson and the debut of Sai Sudharsan.

Sanju Samson makes a comeback, and Sai Sudharsan earns his debut as India unveils its XI for the initial ODI against South Africa. Despite the promising performances of Rinku Singh and Rajat Patidar in domestic and IPL cricket, the duo misses out on their ODI debuts, with Samson securing the finisher's role.

As the first ODI between India and South Africa kicks off, Aiden Markram, the Proteas skipper, wins the toss and chooses to bat. KL Rahul, leading the Indian side, expresses a preference for batting first. Rahul then discloses India's playing XI for the match, emphasizing the experience and IPL background of the selected players.

The selected Indian XI includes KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, debutant Sai Sudharsan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, the returning Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mukesh Kumar. Meanwhile, the South African Playing XI features Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (w), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, and Tabraiz Shamsi.